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A review by kitvaria_sarene
The Hope for Dragonhold by M.M. Wedin
Did not finish book.
DNFed at page 115/310
Not a terrible book by any means, and definitely shows some promise. However it had little bits and pieces that annoyed me from early on (info dumping through dialogue, stilted dialogue and clunky prose at times).
Aside from the prose that could use a little more polish, what made me DNF was mostly the portrayal of women and sex... If you follow my reviews you know I'm never a fan of sex scenes, and even less if they are poorly written.
A clunky sex scene in the bushes early on had me a bit wary. It felt more like an IKEA assembly instruction than an erotic scene to me, see for yourself:
A bit later we got:
There's a lot of describing just how women's bodies look, especially for elves, and my final straw was
I mean I get that elves maybe aren't as prude as humans, and these things are meant to show the difference in society, but I absolutely didn't think them well written, and "cellulite" really doesn't fit a story about elves and magic and archery...
Another character just randomly without cause, rhyme or reason just randomly thinks about how he "wouldn't mind a sleepover in my chambers a bit later on" when seeing two servants, and then we get told how long it was since his last brothel visit, how the prostitute looked like and that he was too drunk to care what she looked like. And it is just randomly patched into the book, doesn't seem to have any relevance to the story? Why?
Not a terrible book by any means, and definitely shows some promise. However it had little bits and pieces that annoyed me from early on (info dumping through dialogue, stilted dialogue and clunky prose at times).
Aside from the prose that could use a little more polish, what made me DNF was mostly the portrayal of women and sex... If you follow my reviews you know I'm never a fan of sex scenes, and even less if they are poorly written.
A clunky sex scene in the bushes early on had me a bit wary. It felt more like an IKEA assembly instruction than an erotic scene to me, see for yourself:
Their tongues were dancing around each other inside her mouth. She closed her eyes and let him lay her down on the ground. He lifted the bottom of her dress and felt the inside of her thighs with his hands. Sarra moaned in pleasure. He took his pants off and lay on top of her. He fumbled with her panties before successfully pulling them down. Sarra placed her hand on the back of his head and pushed him closer to her face. They kissed as he entered her, and they were both moaning as he moved in and out. After a while his breathing became short, and he started to sweat. Sarra stroked her fingers through his wet hair and kissed him again. She was hot now; the cold air did not penetrate her skin. Her pulse sped up once Nikola moved his hand down and played with her as he moved his hips. She tried hard not to make too much noise. She never wanted it to end.
Intense pleasure exploded through Sarra's body shortly after he finished. His movements slowed down, and he let out a loud groan. He lowered his head and kissed her. He needed a minute to catch his breath. Sarra placed his head on her chest, and he let his body rest on top of hers."
A bit later we got:
Hilaniue stared at the fire. At the happy elves laughing, couples kissing and elf children playing. One of the couples were lying on the grass, naked. She thought they were making love."
There's a lot of describing just how women's bodies look, especially for elves, and my final straw was
A streak of sunlight from behind the mountains warmed her back, her porcelain skin almost shimmering in the light. Hey upper body wider than her waist, her hips wider than her upper body. Her legs stood tall, not a blemish or cellulite to be seen. Her torso was shaped like a time glass with perfectly even
I mean I get that elves maybe aren't as prude as humans, and these things are meant to show the difference in society, but I absolutely didn't think them well written, and "cellulite" really doesn't fit a story about elves and magic and archery...
Another character just randomly without cause, rhyme or reason just randomly thinks about how he "wouldn't mind a sleepover in my chambers a bit later on" when seeing two servants, and then we get told how long it was since his last brothel visit, how the prostitute looked like and that he was too drunk to care what she looked like. And it is just randomly patched into the book, doesn't seem to have any relevance to the story? Why?